Modern Clynelish - A Comparison
Young Clynelish Comparison | various ABV
A clowder of Clynelish
Young Clynelish may not be for everyone, but it certainly floats my boat.
The Highlands are by far the most diverse region in Scotland for distillery profiles, which makes sense considering how many distilleries fall within the category.
Even if we exclude Speyside from the group on a regional basis rather than a geographic one, there’s a huge number left spanning from those in the Hebrides to Orkney and as far down as Glengoyne. While I’m no great advocate for regionality as as indication of flavour, the geography and historical approach to production processes as a function of geography has surely had an impact: For example, the malts from Islay have typically been smoky since peat was the predominant source of fuel and heat on the island. As a result, there’s something for everyone in the region. Of all the distilleries in the Highlands though, I think my favourite all-rounder must be Clynelish.
This isn’t to say it’s my favourite distillery; it certainly ranks highly, but there are many malts that drift in and out of that top spot depending on mood and drinking phase. What I mean is that it’s a malt fit for any occasion. No whisky drinker I know has any aversion to the distillery and many favour it, so it’s a safe malt for social occasions. Most bottlings have some great nuances and an expression of distillery character worth pursuing through careful, perhaps even quasi-academic consideration. There’s usually some wonderful body and texture contributing to the overall sensory experience too. On the flip side, it’s not usually a malt that screams for attention or demands anyone take heed. One could think of it as the librarian’s malt - worlds of adventure await for those that take the time and effort to delve into its depths.
As the holiday season progresses at a frightening rate, I find myself reaching for a consolatory dram with more frequency. I’m always aware of how much I’m drinking and it’s never been anything I view as problematic - if it ever feels like it’s not 100% my active, controlled choice to pour a drink, I have a dry spell to reset. That said, the physical, psychological and (on poor days) emotional toll of dealing with the general public is exhausting. I’m a strong introvert by nature, and while I enjoy working in liquor with some of my very favourite products, it takes a lot out of me to be around strangers for long periods of time. Christmas trading exacerbates this to a painful level - not only are there more people, but they become more demanding and are almost always in a rush, still expecting though an equal level of customer service in that condensed time frame. People get stressed - by doing last minute shopping, buying gifts for people whose tastes they know little about or just the overbearing cost of the occasion. As a result they become more argumentative, and while I’m not uncompassionate to their plights, I become a very poor sounding board for their frustrations.
It’s been observed by people that know me that I don’t suffer fools particularly well, and there’s a very good reason that the term ‘pleb’ evolved from descriptions of the public into an insult regarding intelligence - the average person by definition of the term should be, statistically, average. This isn’t any sneering attempt to claim some sense of superiority, nor is it a cry for sympathy about how difficult retail is in December. I have an astounding number of knowledge gaps (I know about as much about car mechanics and maintenance as a fish understands tiddlywinks) and the reality is that with very few exceptions, there are essentially always people both brighter and dimmer around one. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by people that are much cleverer, and I have the great joy of learning from them frequently. As for retail, I am privileged enough by virtue of birth and circumstance to work in most any field of choice, so the fault for these frustrations lies entirely at my own feet. All I mean to say is that I have poor capacity for extended social interactions and occasionally whisky does some heavy lifting in recovering from it. Having Dramface to write for and the brilliant community attached to it, as well as the kind whisky community in a broader sense, certainly helps too.
Back to some semblance of actual conversation regarding whisky; frequently in these fits of socially-induced exhaustion Clynelish is the distillery that finds its way into a Glencairn to soothe my weary and tattered excuse for a soul. In moments of deeper contemplation I can sink into its manifold caches of organoleptic delight, or I can sip and surmise it to be ‘very tasty’. Pursuant to that last and most eloquent of ideas, should we perhaps discuss the distillery for a spell?
Clynelish as a distillery profile has been discussed to the nth degree by a veritable armada of whisky geeks and fiends, so I’ll take many of the common descriptions and lyrical waxing (pun wholly intended) as assumed knowledge. So, what might we attribute to the character of this distillery? We know Diageo employs long fermentations using clear worts, which is the standard recipe for high ester content in wash. We also know that they employ distillation with a high copper surface area to volume ratio to increase reflux which promotes copper-catalysed transesterification.
Then there’s the great tale the marketeers like to spin about the spirit receivers accumulating flocculated material imparting the famous waxy flavour and texture. While we’ll never know the extent to which this impacts the new make character without seeing the data and being able to taste the new make before and after cleaning, the theory sounds plausible. We know that the major causes of chill haze and of flocculation in new make spirit are ethyl dodecanoate, ethyl hexadecanoate and ethyl palmitate, all of which are the esters of varyingly long chain fatty acids. Common smell descriptors for these include waxy, fruity, creamy, milky (ethyl hexadecanoate) and sweet, waxy, fruity, floral, creamy (ethyl dodecanoate). Although there is a lack of data here, I consider the case pretty well rested. We should note that these high molecular mass esters also increase viscosity, so their presence ought to contribute to the mouthfeel and texture too.
Compounding this effect is that long chain fatty acids are partially or completely insoluble in water, and are only held in suspension by high ethanol content. This means that when the whisky mixes with saliva in the mouth and becomes dilute, the fatty acid esters are liable to phase separate and create an oily film on the surfaces of our palates. Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar? Again, we lack data for any of this but the core principle holds up. Having casually put a whisky mystery more or less to bed, shall we taste some?
Review 1/4
Clynelish 14, official bottling, 2020 release, 46% ABV
£45 / AUD$90 readily available
Nose
Good and plentiful malt up front with some lighter spectrum English brown ales. The waxy and fatty elements are there, although they have less of an impact in this bottling than some of their compatriot cask strength releases. Otherwise there’s some nice sweet and nutty unlit pipe tobacco, hints of new pinewood, a mild meaty organosulfur tone, butter menthols, a mild pink bubblegum ester brightness and pleasantly creamy vanilla oak touches.
Palate
Rich for the ABV and with a good texture that might indicate Diageo are less heretical with this particular golden goose distillery - of course they don’t indicate this on the bottle, so we should assume some filtration still occurs.
A lovely honey and caramel malt sweetness with continuations of some of the nose’s fatty touches. More of the floral and moderate sweet ester tones become overlaid with the creamy and spicy oak, whilst a little more pine sap and mustard seed hover peripherally
The Dregs
Kudos should be given - it would be far too easy for Diageo to bottle this at 43% or perhaps even 40% ABV, filter the living daylights out of it and supplant distillery character for extra wood influence. It’s far from my favourite Clynelish but it does an excellent job of introducing the distillery’s style at what (for the moment) is still a reasonable price for the age and sensory experience. Compared to many of the other Diageo malts it carries a gravitas and poise which might just indicate the corporate beast still has something resembling a heart in what’s otherwise a cold, gaping, cavernous void of bean-counting and marketing dominated dread. That or they’re valuing the enthusiasts more than the rest of their decision making would indicate; I remain pessimistic on this latter idea though. In summation; still a great malt for the money, one to keep around.
Score: 6/10 TK
Review 2/4
SMWS 26.171, The Subliminal Fruit Bowl of Dreams, 8yo, 2022 release, 61.9% ABV
AUD$180 now sold out
Nose
Juicy tropical fruits, almost like ester extract a la Bajan rum (pineapple, lychee, banana) with white orchard stone fruits and particularly a touch of youthfully aldehydic ripe pear. Underneath comes the waxiness with extinguished candles, petrichor and overflowing handfuls of milk bottle lollies. There's also small traces of something savoury like a young bourbon cask Ben Nevis.
Palate
Up front is great malt syrup and barley sugar, some chalky minerality and butter menthols. Continues on pineapple upside down cake, more tropical fruits and florals by way of a good NEIPA sans any mosaic hops; much over done these days if you ask me. There’s also a touch of sandalwood and other hardwood resins with light lemon oil furniture polish.
Retronasal has some more cask tones with toffee, baking spices and slight white pepper.
The Dregs
This one gets rounded down to the lower score for typically high SMWS prices. It’s not outlandish, especially for a Clynelish, however this is still an eight year old malt. The palate certainly gains this some favour though. On the nose it does feel a pinch young, though the fruit components do a great job at softening that. The palate shows the distillery character fairly well, and the addition of a little water certainly brings some rich oily texture and a pleasant chalkiness adding to the mouthfeel’s pleasure. Had they left this cask to reach its early teens I think the oak balance would have been a bit better, and certainly the extra age could help some of the slightly more volatile notes.
Still, we should focus on the positives; a brilliant distillery unmolested by any nonsense wood and bottled in such a way that the distillery characteristics show nicely. A very pleasant bottle; in fact, this is my second. The first got polished off earlier this Christmas season with some help from friends. I’ll aim to keep this one until next year, assuming my nerve holds out against the general public.
Score: 6/10 TK
Review 3/4
SMWS 26.167, A Barrel of Beeswax, 8yo, 2022 release, 60.6% ABV
AUD$180 now sold out
Nose
Off the bat the oak is a slightly larger part of this dram; still spirit forward, just comparatively more mature and slightly less fruit driven. Simmering honey and caramels, tepache made with dried spices plus dried banana chips (more Caribbean rum) then waxed canvas, orange peel, crystallised ginger and a good sense of fattiness plus a petrolic sweet edge.
Palate
Exceptional juice. That fatty tone is augmented and the tropical fruits are also lifted with a great juicy punch/feeling. Otherwise there are good parallels to the nose; Demerara and spices browning in melted butter, whole baked pineapple, linens soaking up floral garden air, a little walnut, dried lime slice, tiger balm, more petrolic sweetness (aged riesling drinkers would say kerosene) and an excellent oily mouthfeel.
The Dregs
Surprisingly different to its sister cask, though again we’re rounding down the point for pricing. The youth is still partially evident, but here it’s more a benefit than inconvenience and the extra oak certainly helps with the overall balance. While the fruits and quasi-rum tones are still on display, we see more typical distillery character expressed and the palate particularly shows this with a little water. Again, left a few more years in cask to further develop I think the overall composure would show something very cool, and the price would be better justified; an 8/10 would be pretty well assured. As it stands, this is still a very tasty drop worthy of replacement.
Score: 7/10 TK
Review 4/4
Single Malts Of Scotland Clynelish 10YO CS, single barrel bottling, Australian only release, 59.1% ABV
AUD$145 limited availability
Nose
Same general tones as the SMWS releases but showing more maturity and a touch more oak than even the beeswax. The tropical fruits are slightly subdued comparatively but with a heaping dose of expressed orange peel and splashes of lime juice, candied pecans and roasted walnuts plus generous oak derived baking spices, primarily clove. The waxy quality here is more fat dominated; well ripened brie, buttercream milk and a little paraffin. We also see again some sweet florals plus a little pine sap and some mild menthols.
Palate
Read the nose back. There’s some added oak sweetness accompanying the spices this time with some caramel and toffee, and the malt component rings out a little more clearly (a lack of interfering youth most likely) but otherwise we’re pretty bang on. This is a very enjoyable drink indeed, and the mouthfeel improves much like the others with a little water - no more than say 10% volume dilution.
The Dregs
This and the SMWS 26.167 present very similar measures of organoleptic pleasure, however the slightly more mature profile and price point nudge this bottling up to the next level. Great distillery character, great texture and just an immense drinking experience all round. Bravo Elixir, bravo.
Score: 8/10 TK
Bonus Review
Adelphi 1989 Clynelish 23YO CS, bottled 2013., 52.1% ABV
AUD$450 auction only (sample)
My whisky club enjoyed this bottle earlier this year. There was enough left in the bottle to make two samples, one already drunk and the latter of which now represents my third time trying it.
credit: Whiskybase
Nose
Very different to the others; a little funky off the beat. Touch of fermented meats with some musty hay and farmyard a la good sulfur; echoes of peat? Goes on with hints of the associated thiols/thioesters with hints of grapefruit and blackcurrant. After breathing we find English mustard, some boot polish, baked honey glaze, again some aged riesling (more lime and Kerosene anyone?) then used cooking oils, some rosemary and mellow American oak spices - particularly clove and vanilla. Oh, and just oodles and oodles of snuffed out candles, natural waxes and even some industrial grease - sublime.
Palate
I’m convinced there was a little peat in here; an excellent savoury and dry composition with the brilliantly effervescent citrus I’ve come to love from well aged peaters. A little sooty, some very pleasant Cuban cigar room note even. Chalky, again some farmyard with sweet horse sweat and perhaps even a little dung, then grapefruit, fermenting orange and other flamed citrus peels with mild beeswax, more cooking oils and meat fats. Goes on with a few good tropical fruits, although far fewer than the youngsters and with a stinkier spin; think guava and passionfruit. Finishes on a little resinous/bitter/mentholated terpenic herbal tone, then soft baking spices again through the finish.
The Dregs
A beautifully complex and vivacious glass for the age. I can see where perhaps a few people might have docked some points for the sulfur notes, but for me they are an excellent expression of the distillate and integrate perfectly with the rest of the whisky. My only regret is that this is the last of the samples I have and similar bottles now command such a price that I’m highly unlikely to come across them. We can only hold out that in another decade or so the likes of the youngsters tasted today will have developed into something similarly beautiful, and that we might be able to afford them in whatever state the whisky market stands at that point. Well, we can dream.
Score: 8/10 TK (at original price paid it’d be a 9/10)
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Whiskybase (SMOS 10yo) (not found)
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